The present invention relates to improvements in anesthesia masks and ventilation masks.
During surgery a patient usually is placed under anesthesia. The most common delivery system consists of canisters containing anesthesia gases and oxygen, a system of regulating the gas flow and the patient's breathing, and a device ensuring the potency of the patient's airway for breathing, oxygenation and the delivery of the anesthetic gas mixture. A ventilation mask is used to provide oxygen to the patient either during emergency and/or elective airway management, which includes but is not limited to; before a patient is anesthetized for surgery, while the patient is anesthetized, if the patient is sedated during the surgery or procedure, while the patient is recovering from anesthesia, after the patient has recovered from anesthesia, or during any event where a patient requires supplemental oxygen. However, one of the drawbacks of mask ventilation is that it requires constant contact between the provider's hands and the patient's face to hold the mask in place and keep the patient in the sniffing position in order to ensure that oxygen and anesthetic gases do not leak out into the air and that the patient's airway remains patent. If the provider does not maintain the patient in the sniffing position, a dangerous complication known as upper airway obstruction may occur. The reason the provider needs to perform continuous mask holding and maneuvering is the human anatomy and physiology. When muscles of the jaw, tongue and upper airway relax due to sedatives and/or muscle relaxants given to the patient for sedation and/or anesthesia, the upper airway (mouth, pharynx, larynx) may become partially obstructed and possibly completely closed. Wherein, when the jaw of the patient drops and the tongue obstructs the airway resulting in snoring (partial obstruction) or apnea (complete inability for oxygen to pass via the upper airway into the lungs). Another problem exists when a provider fails to administer enough anesthesia or sedation or it begins to wear off and the patient begins to move. This can cause the patient's airway to obstruct as well since the patient's head and neck position arc no longer in the sniffing position. Patient movement during surgery can also be dangerous because it can cause the surgeon to make a mistake, particularly in eye, ear, nose, neck, head, and throat surgery.
Furthermore, situations arise during surgery that require rapid intubation of a patient. Full face masks, i.e. masks covering both the nose and mouth of a patient are problematic in emergency situations since a mask must be removed to uncover the mouth of a patient for intubation. However, removing the mask also removes oxygen support. As will be described below, the present invention in one aspect addresses the aforesaid and other disadvantages of the prior art.
The present invention, in another aspect relates to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) masks.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR is an emergency procedure performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures may be taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person (hereinafter the “subject” or “victim”) who is in cardiac arrest. CPR also is indicated in those who are unresponsive with no breathing such as in the case of a drowning victim or victim of electrical shock, or abnormal breathing, for example agonol respiration.
CPR involves chest compressions at least two inches deep and at a rate of at least 100 per minute in an effort to create artificial circulation by manually pumping blood through the heart and thus the body. The rescuer also may provide breaths by either exhaling directly into the subject's mouth, or through a CPR mask into the subject's mouth and/or nose (collectively “mouth-to-mouth resuscitation”), or using a device that pushes air into the subject's lungs through the subject's mouth and/or nose. The process of externally providing ventilation is termed “artificial respiration”. Current recommendations place emphasis on high-quality chest compressions over artificial respiration; however, when coupled with high-quality chest compressions, artificial respiration provides potentially the greatest benefit to the patient.
Conventional CPR masks are held in place by hand, by the CPR provider, or may be retained in position by straps that extend behind the head of the subject or victim. While CPR masks may assist in ventilation of a subject or victim who is not breathing, when a rescuer provides mouth-to-mouth and/or nose-to-mouth resuscitation, the air provided contains a significant amount of CO2 which is lethal. As will be discussed below, the present invention in another aspect addresses the aforesaid and other disadvantages of the prior art.